Incorporating reading into Christmas activities

Posted: December 9, 2020 | Author: robbiesinspiration | Filed under: Uncategorized | 49 Comments

In exactly two weeks and two days it will be Christmas day. I enjoy this time of year as there is a lot of focus in my life on sharing, giving, and charity. My firm and my church undergo various outreach and charity programmes to help a large spectrum of underprivileged schools, churches, and families.

This year, the Community Service Initiative team at work organised gifts for 100 school children who were graduating from a nursery school. The gift packs included a selection of party foods and one of my Sir Chocolate Books. These were packed into a good quality school satchel so the children have one to use for school next year. A few volunteers from my office, suitable sanitised and masked, went to the school to help give out the gifts.

Christmas time is also traditionally a time when families gather. Every year, my mother and I host a large family lunch-time gathering at which we serve a traditional hot meal of roast lamb, roast potatoes and a large variety of vegetables. This year we are expecting 16 adults and 7 children for the day. My son, Michael, has undertaken to cook the meat and the vegetables this year as he has become a lot more confident with his cooking skills.

In addition to the Christmas meal, I always make the Christmas treats and puddings.

The preparation of a large meal and a few desserts are great learning opportunities for children. They can help you read the recipes and information on the the packets, boxes, and tins containing the various ingredients.

Aside from reading, there are a number of other benefits to baking with children, as follows:

1. Baking enhances fine motor skills. Get your children to mix, knead, stir, roll-out, cut-out and decorate. These activities all help with the development of fine motor skills;
2. Teaches children math’s. Measuring liquids and weighing or measuring dry ingredients teach children about mass and volume. Heating the oven imparts information about temperatures and sometimes a conversion is required for a recipe from Fahrenheit to Celsius. There can also be conversions from pounds, ounces and pints to grams and milliliters.
3. Illustrates scientific principles. The combination of certain food items results in specific chemical reactions which are instructive and interesting.
4. Increases focus and intention. Children need to concentrate throughout the baking exercise or the ingredients will not be added correctly and the baked items may not turn out well.
5. Teaches life skills. Cooking and baking are life skills which facilitate the growth of independence in children.

How to make a home-made Christmas cracker

I recently read Frugal Seeds Christmas Edition: 101 Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season on a Budget by Charlie Lee Austin which includes a large number of fun activities to do with children during the Christmas season.

One of the ideas was to make home-made Christmas crackers.

You will need scissors, empty toilet roll inners, crinkle paper cut into rectangles that are large enough to gather and tie on both ends of the toilet roll inners, three chocolates per cracker, curling florists ribbon, and sticky tape.

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Cut the crinkle paper into rectangles as show in the pictures. Use a piece of sticky tape to attached the edge of the crinkle paper to the toilet roll inner. Gather one of the ends and tie with curling florists ribbon. Run the ribbon over the edge of the blade of the scissors to make the ends curl. Insert your chocolates into the cracker. Gather the remaining end and tie with curling florist ribbon.

To add an additional reading and writing exercise to this activity, search on the internet for some fun Christmas jokes for Christmas crackers [there are lots on Pinterest]. Get your child to write out the joke and insert it into the Christmas cracker. On Christmas day the children can take turns reading the jokes to each other.

My review of Frugal Seeds Christmas Edition by Charlie Lee Austin

This little book is packed with fun and economical ways of celebrating Christmas with children, friends and family. It has a strong Christian orientation and some of the activities relating to the Bible, but there are many other ideas that can be enjoyed by people of any religious orientation.

Reading the ideas presented in this book reminded me of two of my favourite childhood books. Little Women when the girls decide to play a variation of pilgrims progress and also when they celebrate Christmas without their father, who is fighting in the war, and all decide what gifts to buy their Marmee. I was also taken back to the glorious days when I read What Katy Did for the first time. My favourite scenes in this book are when Katy decides to make all sorts of Christmas gifts for her siblings and best friend. She creates a Christmas tree decorated with home-made decorations like popcorn strings and they children have a poetry reading evening where they all read a poem they have written.

The suggestions in this book are simple and yet so much fun to make. The ideas include making a pinata from clay pots and paper mache, making Christmas crackers from toilet roll innards, and making Christmas candles.

A great book of activity ideas to entertain young young children over the holiday period.

Purchase link

Amazon US

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and lets hope for a great New Year with an end to the pandemic.

About Robbie Cheadle

Robbie Cheadle has published nine books for children and one poetry book. She has branched into writing for adults and young adults and, in order to clearly separate her children’s books from her adult books, is writing for older readers under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle.

Robbie Cheadle’s Sir Chocolate children’s picture books are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision. Her books for older children also incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.

Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s supernatural stories combine fabulous paranormal elements with fascinating historical facts.

Children’s picture books – available as a square book and an A5 book (co-authored with Michael Cheadle):
Sir Chocolate and the strawberry cream story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the baby cookie monster story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the sugar dough bees story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Condensed Milk River story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Sugar Crystal Caves story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Fondant Five story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Ice Cream Rainbow Fairies story and cookbook

Middle school books:
Silly Willy Goes to Cape Town (includes five fun party cake ideas)
While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with Elsie Hancy Eaton)

Poetry book:
Open a new door (co-authored with Kim Blades)

Supernatural fantasy YA novel:
Through the Nethergate

Horror Anthologies (edited by Dan Alatorre):
Spellbound
Nightmareland
Dark Visions

Paranormal Anthologies (edited by Kaye Lynne Booth):
Spirits of the West
Whispers of the Past

Murder mystery Anthology (edited by Stephen Bentley)
Death Among Us

Find Robbie Cheadle

Blog: https://bakeandwrite.co.za/

Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com

Twitter: BakeandWrite

Instagram: Robbie Cheadle – Instagram

Facebook: Sir Chocolate Books

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Celebrate the Holidays with WordCrafter Press

Posted: November 30, 2020 | Author: kayelynnebooth | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

This holiday season I hope you’ll all come party with the WordCrafter authors featured in the three WordCrafter Press books which are now available in print. Come and join in the fun and learn more about the great new books offered by WordCrafter Press at the 2020 WordCrafter Holiday Book Party. Meet some of the contributing authors of three WordCrafter anthologies, who will be doing author takeovers, and will be available to engage and answer questions, including: myself, Cynthia Vespia, Janet Garber, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Margareth Stewart, Jeff Bowles, Jordan Elizabeth and Art Rosch.

The party is on Monday, December 7, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. MST on Facebook. There’s exciting things happening at WordCrafter Press that you won’t want to miss, including upcoming releases and additional author services to be offered. I’m sending out invites, so watch for yours. If you want to attend, but didn’t get one, click on the link above or feel free to contact me directly via messenger, or at kayebooth@yahoo.com.

I’m happy to announce that these three WordCrafter anthologies are now available in print editions:

Now you can get the author’s reference no writer should be without. Learn from the experts in Ask the Authors. Sixteen seasoned authors share writing tips and advice on topics that include craft, editing and revision, publishing and book marketing and promotion. Dan Alatorre, Amy Cecil, Cynthia Vespia, Tom Johnson, Ashley Fontainne, R.A. Winter, Tim Baker, Lilly Rayman, Chris Barili, Carol Riggs, Arthur Rosch, Mark & Kym Todd, Janet Garber, Jordan Elizabeth, Margareth Stewart, Chris Dibella and Kaye Lynne Booth. A great gift for that special author in your life.

Available now on Amazon.

Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1393718671/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Kaye+Lynne+Booth&qid=1606248905&s=books&sr=1-1

Digital:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B44RRVR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

Spirits of the west are often found in unexpected places.  They can be found on a in a saloon in Colorado territory, on a wagon train in the plains of South Africa, or on a distant planet in another galaxy. They can be the bringers of revenge or the protectors of the weak. Indulge yourself in eight paranormal stories with western spirit in Spirits of the West. Contributors include Enid Holden, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Jeff Bowles, Arthur Rosch, Tom Johnson, and Kaye Lynne Booth.

Available now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LW5R368/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Everyone loves a good ghost story. Whispers of the Past includes seven thought provoking paranormal stories from six talented authors. The past is calling. Listen to hear it’s whispers. Contibutors include Jeff Bowles, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Julie Goodswen, Laurel McHargue, and Kaye Lynne Booth.

Available now on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08288GNC9/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6

Other exciting news: WordCrafter Press recently released two books by Kaye Lynne Booth. Last Call and Other Short Fiction is a collection of short stories of multiple genres, and Hidden Secrets is a paranormal mystery novella. Both are available in digital format now and will soon be available in print editions.

Last Call and Other Short Fiction: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NXXQB6R/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i5

Hidden Secrets: https://books2read.com/u/38RZ2O

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Meet poet, Balroop Singh, and a review of Magical Whispers

Posted: November 28, 2020 | Author: robbiesinspiration | Filed under: Uncategorized | 57 Comments

Today, I have the pleasure of featuring talented poet, Balroop Singh, as my Treasuring Poetry guest. Balroop has shared some lovely thoughts about poetry and her favourite poems. My review of her latest book, Magical Whispers, is included at the end of the post.

You can find out more about Balroop Singh and her poetry on her lovely blog here: https://balroop2013.wordpress.com/about/

What is your favourite poem?

How can you have one poem as a favorite? They have been changing with my growing years. From Rumi to Rudyard Kipling to Maya Angelou, poetry has always evoked images of romanticism, realism and Sufism and I got carried away with those images depending on the phase of my life.

As a youngster, I liked ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost. It acquainted me with the beautiful images and simple style of writing a poem, inspired me to read more poetry, nudged me to keep the promises that we make to ourselves. It also calls upon the reader to focus, to brush aside the distractions and temptations and move ahead.

As a student of English Literature, I fell in love with the nature poetry of William Wordsworth, as his poems told me to carry the beauty of nature in the “inward eye” and feel the “bliss of solitude” in “vacant or in pensive mood.” His Daffodils entrances me even today. I must’ve read it a thousand times!

‘The Little Black Boy’ by William Blake became my favorite when I taught it to my students. The emotional appeal to end racism that the poet makes in this poem is still relevant. His imagery is exceptional and his simple, convincing style moved me. Then I stumbled across ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling and it became my all time favorite. The values it imparts resonate with me.

Slowly the alleys I walked down widened into avenues of observation and experience and I discovered more poems of human interest. Poetry that focuses on what lies within a human heart, combined with imagination and imagery from nature appeals to me.

Recently I stumbled across this gem, an outstanding poem written in 1932. It  demonstrates an incredible power to assuage loss and anguish. Though the poet had written it for her friend who could not visit her mother’s grave due to disturbing times, its popular appeal can be judged from the fact that it was read by the father of a young soldier, who had been killed by a bomb in Northern Ireland.

“Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.” – Mary  Elizabeth Frye

This poem conjures a thousand images of nature to lift the gloomy mood, which fades away in the wake of so much positivity. Read it twice and you would be transported into a different world. My heart misses a beat each time I read it.

Life seems have come a full circle, as once again, a poem written in a simple style has appealed so much to me.

If you could choose to write like any well-known poet, who would it be?

Robert Frost and William Wordsworth have been my early influences but now I would like to write like Adrienne Rich, an American poet, essayist and feminist who could criticize conservative attitudes of the society through her works. Just look at her powerful poetry:

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers by Adrienne Rich

“Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”

What tugs at my heart is the message of subjugation that these lines convey in a very succinct manner. ‘Massive weight’ symbolizes aunt Jennifer’s ordeals in an unhappy marriage. At the same time, it also hints at the inability of the patriarchs to control the mind of women. Aunt Jennifer may be tied by societal norms, she could have been dominated by the “master,” (a symbol for her husband) but the art she creates with her ivory needle symbolizes freedom – “tigers prance,” “they do not fear the men.”

Only symbols speak in her poetry. The way hope and despair merge in this poem is outstanding. There are very few poets who focus on social and political themes with the fervor of Adrienne Rich.

I have tried a similar style: (An excerpt from Emerging From Shadows)

FLYING HIGH

The path I chose, I follow it with pride

Thorny monsters monitor my trail

I know I can brush them aside

Each one reminds me of you.

Each spike strengthened me.

Unrequited love is not my shriek

I know this love let me grow

I know obscure alleys scream louder.

Respect, reverence, self-esteem

Are my basic requisites.

I refuse to be a competitor

Who struggles for personal rights.

The stumble, the search stirred me.

Questions that haunted my sleep

Clamor and clutter… all that robs my peace

Elevates me, helps me detach!

I am no longer tied to the cliffs.

Threats don’t hold any ground

I have decided to fly high

On the winds of cool complacence.

Who has the audacity to ask?

Who can misconstrue my intrepid intentions?

Who can doubt my positive power?

No one can sway my dauntless decision.

© Balroop Singh

Meet the poet

Balroop Singh, a former teacher and an educator always had a passion for writing.  She is a poet, a creative non-fiction writer, a relaxed blogger and a doting grandma. She writes about people, emotions and relationships. Her poetry highlights the fact that happiness is not a destination but a chasm to bury agony, anguish, grief, distress and move on! No sea of solitude is so deep that it can drown us. Sometimes aspirations are trampled upon, boulders of exploitation and discrimination may block your path but those who tread on undeterred are always successful.

When turbulences hit, when shadows of life darken, when they come like unseen robbers, with muffled exterior, when they threaten to shatter your dreams, it is better to break free rather than get sucked by the vortex of emotions.

A self-published author, she is the poet of Sublime Shadows of Life , Emerging From Shadows, Timeless Echoes   and Moments We Love – all widely acclaimed poetry books. She has recently published Magical Whispers, another poetry book. She has also written When Success Eludes, Emotional Truths Of Relationships Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited and Allow Yourself to be a Better Person. Balroop Singh has always lived through her heart. She is a great nature lover; she loves to watch birds flying home. The sunsets allure her with their varied hues that they lend to the sky. She can spend endless hours listening to the rustling leaves and the sound of waterfalls. The moonlight streaming through her garden, the flowers, the meadows, the butterflies cast a spell on her. She lives in San Ramon, California.

My review of Magical Whispers by Balroop Singh

What Amazon says

I wait for whispers; they regale my muse. Whispers that can be heard by our heart, whispers that ride on the breeze to dispel darkness and ignite hope. I’m sure you would hear them through these poems if you read slowly.
‘Magical Whispers’ would transport you to an island of serenity; beseech you to tread softly on the velvety carpet of nature to feel the ethereal beauty around you. The jigsaw of life would melt and merge as you dive into the warmth of words.

In this book, my poems focus on the whispers of Mother Nature, whispers that are subtle but speak louder than words and breathe a quiet message.
Each day reminds us
It’s the symphony of surroundings
That whispers life into us.

My review

Magical Whispers is a beautiful collection of freestyle poems from a talented poet. Each of the 73 poems speaks to a special event or sight in nature or an experience in life’s journey with a ‘whispered’ undertone of emotion. The poems are divided into two sections, with the first mainly about the magic of our natural environment and the second about the magic of our human lives.

Two wonderful examples of this undercurrent of whispered emotion are as follows:
“Whispers that stood walled,
That could dispel his darkness
Now they seethe and speak
Louder than his voice.”
From Secret Whispers

“They made me who I am
A reclusive introvert.
They told me I don’t have rights,
I was born to be controlled.”
From A Loner

The poet makes use of the most delightful imagery. Her writing is so lovely it is difficult to select one illustrative example, but this is a paragraph that particularly struck me while reading this book:

“What how they gleam
And say adieu to the sun
But shimmer with delight
In moonlight!”
From Did You Hear the Whisper?

A lovely book of poetry and one I highly recommend.

Purchase Magical Whispers

Amazon US

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